Treasury

Notification of contingent liability

Bim Afolami: At this year’s Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced that the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme will be extended by an additional eighteen months to continue to support homebuyers and movers with smaller deposits. The scheme will now remain open to new accounts until 30 June 2025.HM Treasury launched the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme in April 2021. The scheme provides a guarantee to participating lenders across the UK who offer mortgages to first-time buyers and existing homeowners with a deposit as small as 5% on homes with a value of up to £600,000. The Government knows that access to a deposit can be the largest barrier facing first-time buyers. Since its launch, the scheme has successfully restored the availability of 91-95% loan-to-value mortgage products, directly supporting over 37,000 households to buy their homes, overwhelmingly first-time buyers.While the scheme was due to close to new mortgage applications on 31 December 2023, HM Treasury has decided to extend the scheme by an additional eighteen months to continue to provide lenders with the confidence to offer low deposit mortgages to consumers.Guarantees issued under the scheme are valid for up to seven years after the mortgage is originated. Participating lenders pay HM Treasury a fee for each mortgage entered into the scheme. This is set so that expected claims against the guarantee should be covered by revenue from the fee.To continue to provide lenders with confidence, HM Treasury will therefore be extending the duration of the government’s contingent liability for an additional eighteen months beyond the scheme’s planned closing date of 31 December 2023. HM Treasury judges the risk of incurring losses through the scheme to be low, which would only materialise if the sum of commercial fees paid by lenders was not sufficient to cover calls on the guarantee.Authority for any expenditure required under this liability will be sought through the normal procedure. HM Treasury has approved this proposal in principle. A Departmental Minute has been laid in Parliament today. If, during the period of fourteen parliamentary sitting days a member signifies an objection by giving notice of a Parliamentary Question or by otherwise raising the matter in Parliament, final approval to proceed with incurring the liability will be withheld pending an examination of the objection.

Social Security Update

Laura Trott: The Tax Credits Act 2002 and the Social Security Administration Act 1992 place a statutory duty on His Majesty’s Treasury to review the rates of tax credits and Child Benefit each year in line with the general level of prices. There is a further statutory duty on the Treasury to increase Guardian’s Allowance in line with price growth. I have now concluded the review for the tax year 2024/25.I have decided to increase tax credits and Child Benefit rates in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the year to September 2023. Guardian’s Allowance will also increase by the same rate. This means that:The majority of elements and thresholds in Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, including all disability elements, will increase by 6.7% from 6 April 2024. This means, for example, that the basic element of Working Tax Credit will increase from £2,280 to £2,435 per year. In line with established practice and the Office for Budget Responsibility’s expectations in their welfare forecast, the maximum rate of the childcare element, the family element, the withdrawal rate and disregards in tax credits will remain unchanged.All rates of Child Benefit, plus Guardian’s Allowance, will increase by 6.7% from 8 April 2024. This means, for example, that the Child Benefit rate for the eldest child will increase from £24.00 to £25.60 per week.The new rates will apply across the United Kingdom. I will deposit the full list of these rates in the House libraries shortly.

Department for Work and Pensions

Work Capability Assessment Consultation Response

Mel Stride: Today, DWP will publish its response to the consultation on changes to the Work Capability Assessment to reflect the modern world of work and greater employment opportunities for disabled people and people with health conditions. Through a new ‘Chance to Work Guarantee’, we will effectively abolish the Work Capability Assessment for most existing claimants who are not expected to look for, or prepare for, work. This will remove the fear of re-assessments and give people the confidence to try work, while providing continuity of service for vulnerable claimants. This brings forward a key part of our reforms announced earlier this year in “Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper”, which sets out our future direction to completely abolish the Work Capability Assessment and introduce a new personalised, tailored approach to employment support. Ahead of these longer-term plans, we need to ensure the Work Capability Assessment delivers the right outcomes, and reflects changes in work since the WCA activities and descriptors were last comprehensively reviewed in 2011. Over this time, the labour market has changed significantly, as evidenced by the increase in flexibility, and the availability of hybrid and home working jobs. At the same time, the proportion of people assessed to be entitled to the highest tier of health-related benefits, without any requirement to look or prepare for work, has risen from 21% in 2011 to 65% in 2022. And yet we know that one in five people who are not expected to engage in work preparation would like to work at some point in the future if the right job and support were available. To help inform our decisions on how we intend to take forward changes to the Work Capability Assessment, we have carefully considered all the consultation responses and feedback from our public events and engagement. We received 1,348 written responses from disabled people and people with health conditions, as well as the organisations that represent and support them. We also engaged directly with clinical experts, employer groups and disability organisations across the country.To reflect new flexibilities in the labour market and to ensure more people are supported to move closer to work, from 2025, we will: remove the ‘Mobilising’ activity used to assess ‘Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity’;reduce the points awarded for the ‘Getting About’ descriptor used to assess ‘Limited Capability for Work’;ensure the criteria used to determine a substantial risk to health of a claimant found capable of work-related activity is used only in exceptional circumstances so it is in line with the original policy intention. We will continue to protect the most vulnerable and those who have the most significant limitations. We have determined not to make any changes to the Continence or Social Engagement activities. We will also change how we describe our health benefit groups in future. We will no longer refer to people’s limitations and will instead focus on what they can do. From 2025, the term ‘Work Preparation’ will replace ‘Limited Capability for Work’, and ‘Health Group’ will replace ‘Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity’. Alongside these measures, the Government’s recently announced Back to Work Plan will help more disabled people and those with a long-term illness to overcome barriers to work. This includes (through our new WorkWell service) bringing together work and health support locally and an expansion of Universal Support to place more people in roles and provide ongoing wraparound help. By making these changes, we will ensure fairness for both claimants and taxpayers, step up the support on offer to the most vulnerable claimants, and remove barriers to work.

Statutory Review of State Pension and Benefit Rates: 2024-25

Mel Stride: I have concluded my statutory annual review of State Pension and benefit rates in Great Britain. The new rates will apply in the tax year 2024/25 and come into effect on 8 April 2024. I am pleased to announce that the basic and new State Pensions will be increased by 8.5%, in line with the increase in Average Weekly Earnings in the year to May-July 2023. This delivers on our ‘triple lock’ commitment to increase these rates in line with the highest of growth in prices, growth in earnings or 2.5%. This year’s increase is the second highest on record – and means that the full annual rate of the basic State Pension will be over £8,800 from next April. The full rate of the new State Pension will rise to over £11,500. The Standard Minimum Guarantee in Pension Credit will also increase by 8.5%, as will the weekly earnings limit in Carer’s Allowance. Recognising the upward pressure in rents, despite the challenging fiscal context, the local housing allowance rates will be increased. These rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit will cover the lowest 30% of local rents; and the national maximum caps will be increased, so claimants in inner and central London will also see an increase in their housing support payments.Other State Pension and benefit rates covered by my review under the Social Security Administration Act 1992 will be increased by 6.7%, in line with the Consumer Prices Index for the year to September 2023. This includes Universal Credit and other benefits for people below State Pension age; benefits to help with additional needs arising from disability, such as Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment; Statutory Payments including Statutory Sick Pay and Statutory Maternity Pay; and Additional State Pension. The Pension Credit Savings Credit maximum amount will also increase by 6.7%. Up-rating of devolved benefits in Scotland is a matter for the Scottish Government. Some of these – such as Attendance Allowance, Carer’s Allowance, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment – are being temporarily delivered by DWP on behalf of the Scottish Ministers under Agency Agreements. In these cases, the Scottish Government will bring forward corresponding up-rating legislation in the Scottish Parliament. Social security is a transferred matter in Northern Ireland. Corresponding provision for State Pension and benefit up-rating will be made by the Department for Communities there. I will place the full list of proposed State Pension and benefit rates for 2024/25 in the Libraries of both Houses in due course.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Transforming Great Britain’s Electricity Network

Claire Coutinho: The UK is a world leader in renewable energy: in the first quarter of this year, 48% of our electricity came from renewables, up from just 6% in the first quarter of 2010. Our renewable electricity capacity has increased more than fivefold in the last 13 years and we must go further. Energy security means national security.We must replace imported fossil fuels with cheaper, cleaner, domestic sources of energy. That is how we will ensure the UK never again suffers the rising prices caused by Putin’s weaponisation of energy following his invasion of Ukraine.As we increase electrification and decarbonise heat, transport and industry in our transition to net zero, we expect a doubling in demand for electricity by 2050. This underlines just how important the grid will continue to be to our way of life, and we will need around four times as much new transmission network in the next seven years as we have built since 1990.That is why I am announcing an ambitious programme to deliver transformation of the electricity network, ensuring the network can support our energy security and the transition to net zero. We will halve the time it takes to build new transmission infrastructure from around 12-14 years to 7. We will also drastically reduce the amount of time it takes viable projects to connect to the grid, reducing the average delay from 5 years to just 6 months.This package of announcements will reduce consumer bills, support economic growth and drive jobs and investment across the UK. Together, reforms to upgrading the transmission network and connecting to the grid could bring forward £90bn of investment over the next 10 years.Transmission Acceleration Action PlanIn 2022, the government appointed Nick Winser CBE as Electricity Networks Commissioner to advise on halving the end-to-end build time for transmission infrastructure. The Commissioner’s report, published in August 2023, set out 43 recommendations which, taken together, will achieve that goal. The Transmission Acceleration Action Plan is our response to those recommendations. It sets out how government and key delivery partners will deliver all the recommendations in the Commissioner’s report, and in some cases go further.There are eight key areas of action:1) Strategic Spatial Planning – Through the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP), we will have a better coordinated approach to how we plan generation and network infrastructure. This will increase certainty for investors and industry, and create a more efficient system with reduced waiting times for grid connections. The Future System Operator will work with government to develop the SSEP and we will commission the Electricity System Operator to begin this work early next year.2) Design Standards – We will ensure better standardisation of infrastructure and equipment, and we will provide clarity on the points on which communities have a role in decision making.3) Regulatory Approval – By streamlining the regulatory approval process we will unlock investment and provide early clarity on delivery. We will also stimulate investment by introducing competition into some electricity network projects.4) Planning Approval – Our reforms to planning processes will include fast-track approvals and updates to the energy National Policy Statements (NPSs). The updated NPSs will ensure that need for new infrastructure is balanced with impacts on the environment and communities. We are also announcing a review of energy consenting rules in Scotland.5) Supply Chain and Skills – To support the expansion of strong, home-grown, clean energy supply chains across the UK, the government will ensure early engagement at scale and has announced the Green Industries Growth Accelerator. This includes a commitment to providing £960m to support key net zero sectors, including electricity networks, and will enable the UK to seize growth opportunities through the transition to net zero, building on our world-leading decarbonisation track record and strong deployment offer. A Green Jobs Plan will also be published.6) Communities and Engagement – We will introduce a community benefits package for communities who host transmission infrastructure, alongside a national communications campaign to improve public understanding of electricity infrastructure and its benefits.7) Outage Planning – To enable grid transformation, we will optimise our outage planning arrangements to strategically plan outages in the short, medium and long term.8) End-to-End Process – We will put delivery governance in place to monitor and drive delivery of the overall package. A new ministerially-chaired Transmission Acceleration Forum will convene Ofgem and delivery partners to track progress of the actions set out in our Transmission Acceleration Action Plan. We will also monitor the impact on delivery of transmission infrastructure on the ground. This forum will also align with the governance being established to support delivery of the Connections Action Plan.Connections Action Plan Over the last five years the volume of connection applications to the transmission network has grown approximately tenfold. This has led to an average delay of over five years for projects applying to connect to the transmission network. This affects our ability to decarbonise our energy system, roll out low carbon technologies and attract investment into the UK.The total connection queue across transmission and distribution is around 500GW, five times the amount that is currently connected. We know that too many projects in the connection queue will not connect and many are hoarding capacity, preventing viable projects from connecting. Action is already underway to free up capacity and accelerate connections, and network companies are starting to offer earlier connections to customers.However, the actions underway will not be sufficient to deliver the change we need. This led to the commitment in Powering Up Britain: Energy Security Plan to publish an action plan to set out how we will go further and faster to accelerate network connections.The result is the Connections Action Plan which is published jointly with Ofgem and will overhaul the way projects access the grid. This will:Release over 100GW of capacity from the current queue – equivalent to around a quarter of the electricity needed to power our economy in 2050.Remove speculative ‘Zombie’ projects – giving the ESO powers to terminate the connection agreements of stalled projects.Establish a triage service for strategically important demand customers.These measures will drastically reduce the time it takes viable projects to connect to the grid. We will reduce the average delay a project faces to connect to the transmission network from 5 years to 6 months, with the aim that the vast majority of projects connect in line with their requirements. The measures set out will ensure Great Britain continues to be one of the best places in the world to connect.Community Benefits for Transmission Network Infrastructure Government Response In order to support the growth of new generation, the government consulted on proposals for community benefits for electricity transmission network infrastructure earlier this year. I am pleased to announce that, based on feedback from the consultation and social research, we have concluded that there is a preference for a combination of electricity bill discounts and wider community benefits (community schemes such as education initiatives for young people, local parks, community energy generation or energy efficiency measures), and that communities would prefer a mandatory scheme.Based on analysis to date, we are minded to move forward with a package of:an electricity bill discount for properties located closest to transmission network infrastructure. While the exact scheme design is still under development, we estimate this could offer, for example, up to £10,000 per property (£1,000 per year, ~£80 per month, for 10 years), in addition toa wider benefit for the local community of around £200,000/km (~£320,000/mile) for overhead lines, £40,000/km (~£60,000/mile) for underground cables, and £200,000 per substation. It will be for the local community to decide in consultation with the developer what projects they would like to support.Community benefits are separate to the planning process and will still not be a material consideration in planning decisions. They are intended to recognise the vital role that communities hosting onshore network infrastructure are playing in ensuring a cheaper, secure and low-carbon energy supply in Great Britain. Communities may oppose planning applications but still benefit from community benefit packages offered by developers if the project goes ahead.Further work is needed to design the detail and implementation of the overall scheme, and we will work with industry, Ofgem and community representatives to ensure that the scheme works for communities and can be effectively delivered and administered – without unacceptable costs for other bill payers as we transition towards net zero. Its effectiveness will be reviewed once implemented.To deliver community benefits as soon as possible, we will publish voluntary guidance on wider benefits and provide further information on the overall community benefits policy. This will include options for developing a mandatory approach and bill discount scheme in 2024. Whilst we continue to explore options for a mandatory approach, we will consider whether to establish a Community Benefits Register. This would be a publicly available register, updated by local communities and/or developers involved in developing community benefit packages, setting out details such as the wider community benefit package and the level of funding. It will provide accountability and inspiration for packages.Energy National Policy Statements (NPS)Having considered the responses to the consultations I am pleased today to be able to present five revised energy National Policy Statements for parliamentary approval. This represents a further important milestone in our effort to ensure the energy security of the United Kingdom, and to achieve net zero. National Policy Statements are a crucial part of ensuring the planning system is fit for purpose. These revised NPSs mean that developers can put forward energy projects without having to negotiate unnecessary delays, that communities can have their say about how their local area develops, and that decisions are made in an accountable way by Ministers.Investment in our nation’s infrastructure is key to enabling the growth and jobs the UK needs. The revised energy NPS will ensure the UK has diverse sources of electricity generation, and that we remain at the forefront of low carbon technological development.Whilst ensuring that all necessary legislation to protect the environment and habitats is respected in any energy development, the revised NPS provide for the application of a critical national priority criterion. It has been necessary to include this due to the growing pressure on the UK’s energy supplies from international events and actions, and the consequent rise in energy costs for business and households across the United Kingdom.The revised NPS I am laying today set out national policy in key energy policy areas:EN-1 covers the overarching needs case for different types of energy infrastructure.EN-2 – 5 deal respectively with natural gas electricity generation, renewable electricity generation, gas and oil infrastructure and electricity networks.The supporting Appraisal of Sustainability and Habitats Regulations Assessment.I am today also publishing the Government Response to the latest consultation to which there were over 170 responses with a further 1100 inputs received via 3 campaigns.I will deposit copies of all these documents in the Libraries of the House and they are available on GOV.UK.

Department of Health and Social Care

Lord O’Shaughnessy Review into Commercial Clinical Trials

Andrew Stephenson: The UK demonstrated its strength in clinical research during the pandemic through the rapid design and set up of studies. Over 2 million people participated in COVID-19 trials of treatments and vaccines across the UK.The collaboration that arose between researchers, the Government, the life sciences sector and the NHS drove one of the greatest joint missions in history – something that no other country or international organisation was able to deliver at the pace and scale that we did.Despite this remarkable success, data published by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) in October 2022 highlighted a decline in the number of commercial contract clinical trials initiated in the UK, primarily in 2020 and 2021. This was due to the challenge of the pandemic as many studies were paused to allow the system to focus on nationally prioritised COVID-19 studies. This change was needed to address the urgent need to identify treatments.While the collaboration seen during the pandemic showed the agility and resilience of the clinical trial sector in the UK, the Government has recognised that more work needed to be done to sustain and grow this momentum, and to build and strengthen the sector. The Government’s vision is to unleash the full potential of UK clinical research delivery to help address health inequalities, bolster economic growth and improve the lives of people right across the UK. Clinical research delivery partners across the UK have been working on a coordinated plan to transform delivery of clinical research in the UK since 2021, as set out Saving and Improving Lives: the Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery.In February 2023, the Government commissioned Lord O’Shaughnessy to conduct an independent review to offer recommendations on how to resolve key challenges in conducting commercial clinical trials in the UK and improve the UK commercial clinical trial environment.In May 2023 Lord O’Shaughnessy’s review into commercial clinical trials was published. The review set out 27 recommendations, including priority actions to progress in 2023 and longer-term ambitions for UK commercial clinical trials. The review acknowledged the improvements already made and underway and highlighted areas where the system could go faster and further.Alongside the publication of the review, the Government published an interim response to the review where the Government made five headline commitments backed by up to £121 million.The five headline commitments were:To substantially reduce the time taken for approval of commercial clinical trials, with a goal of reaching a 60-day turnaround for all approvalsTo deliver a comprehensive and mandatory national approach to contractingTo provide ‘real-time’ data on commercial clinical activity in the UKTo establish a common approach to contacting patients about research; andTo establish clinical trial acceleration networks (CTANs)In addition to these commitments, the Government also accepted in principle the foundational action to develop SMART objectives for all of the ambitions in the vision for clinical research delivery, with owners held to account for delivery by the Life Sciences Council.Since the publication of the review and the initial Government response we have made excellent progress. For example, in September 2023 the MHRA met the target of all studies receiving regulatory approval within 60-days. This is a significant achievement, providing much needed predictability and stability for study sponsors and funders.Furthermore, recruitment to commercial contract research is now an average of over 5,000 a month in comparison to a pre-pandemic average of 3,200, 82% of commercial studies are on track, and set-up of new commercial studies has been reduced by over 100 days (36%) since our new approach was implemented in October 2022.Collaborative research funded by both the life sciences industry and non-commercial funders such as medical research charities has also recovered to match our pre-pandemic baseline of over 6,900 people recruited on average each month.Building on this success, I am pleased today to announce to the House the publication of the Government’s full response to Lord O’Shaughnessy’s review, coinciding with the quarterly meeting of the Life Sciences Council. We have accepted all of the problem statements and the majority of the report’s recommendations. In some places we have proposed alternative ways to deliver the ambition behind the recommendation.This response sets out a full system-wide response with cross-sector input outlining that over the next two years delivery partners will:Fully implement the five headline commitments announced in May 2023;Make progress in tackling all the problem statements identified by Lord O’Shaughnessy;Continue work to improve the operating environment for all types of clinical research using National Performance Indicators and being transparent about the latest status of these metrics;Increase adoption of more innovative, decentralised models of clinical trial delivery through Clinical Trial Delivery Accelerators in vaccines and dementiaThe response builds upon the strong foundation that is our clinical research ecosystem – integrating the recommendations made by Lord O’Shaughnessy into the existing Future for UK Clinical Research Delivery framework, to make the UK one of the best places in the world to conduct clinical trials.The health needs of the UK and our research system are broad and diverse. We are committed to maintaining a rich and balanced portfolio – early and late phase, commercial and non-commercial with a range of methodologies and sizes.The response updates and supersedes our previous plans and provides renewed focus to ensure we make the progress necessary to ensure we are a global leader in the delivery of life sciences research while also ensuring continued progress towards our ten-year Vision.Implementation of the response will begin immediately, with quarterly updates and monthly cross-sector communications being made publicly available on The Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery microsite.The publication today provides a clear signal to the health research system that this Government remains committed to making the UK a world leader in conducting clinical research of all types.Copies of the Government’s response have been deposited in the Libraries of both Houses.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Media Update

Lucy Frazer: My Department has today written respectively to Lloyds Banking Group (via Bank of Scotland plc), the Barclay family and RedBird IMI, the current and proposed new owners of Telegraph Media Group, to inform them that I am ‘minded to’ issue a Public Interest Intervention Notice. This relates to concerns I have that there may be public interest considerations - as set out in section 58 of the Enterprise Act 2002 - that are relevant to the intended loan repayment by the Barclay family and the planned acquisition of Telegraph Media Group by RedBird IMI and that these concerns warrant further investigation.Accordingly, a ‘minded to’ letter has been issued to each of the parties on the following public interest grounds specified in section 58 of the Enterprise Act 2002:(2A) The need for -(a) accurate presentation of news; and(b) free expression of opinion;in newspapers(2B) The need for, to the extent it is reasonable and practicable, a sufficient plurality of views in newspapers in each market for newspapers in the United Kingdom or a part of the United Kingdom.(2C) (a) The need, in relation to every different audience in the United Kingdom or in a particular area or locality of the United Kingdom, for there to be a sufficient plurality of persons with control of the media enterprises serving that audience.These letters, and other relevant updates, will be published on gov.uk.It is important to note that I have not taken a final decision on intervention at this stage. The ‘minded to’ letter invites further representations in writing from the parties and gives them until 3pm on 23 November to respond.If I decide to issue an Intervention Notice, the next stage would be for Ofcom to assess and report to me on the public interest concerns, and for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to assess and report to me on whether a relevant merger situation has been created and any impact this may have on competition. Following these reports, I would need to decide whether to refer the matter for a more detailed investigation by the CMA under section 45 of the Enterprise Act 2002.DCMS will keep Parliament updated on progress with this case.